Principal Software Developer - Full Stack (Unity, C#)

Zynga is looking for a Principal Software Engineer level in the Austin, Eugene, Toronto, San Mateo, Carlsbad, or Chicago areas.

This position will be to develop and maintain the core client technology, engine-level systems, and infrastructure for a game with a cozy vibe targeting a casual audience.  You should have a passion for engineering excellence and be comfortable diagnosing and solving deep, systemic technical problems, such as improving load times, frame rate, memory footprint, and other cross-cutting performance concerns.  You’ll need to operate with rigorous engineering discipline while working largely independently to plan and execute complex, multi-week technical initiatives.

We have a well-rounded, highly motivated, distributed team with a mission-driven culture working on a new game.  We need a self-driven engineer who confronts challenges with optimism, communicates clearly and easily, and takes a great deal of pride in their work.  You’ll have an opportunity to own core engine and infrastructure work, including upgrading and maintaining third-party libraries and dependencies, evolving build and tooling pipelines, and making foundational changes to the client architecture that unlock future feature roadmaps for the rest of the engineering team.

• Define, architect, and develop core systems and client infrastructure in Unity and C#

• Diagnose and resolve complex, game-wide technical issues such as slow load times, low frame rates, memory pressure, and build/runtime stability

• Own the evaluation, upgrade, and maintenance of third-party libraries, SDKs, and engine dependencies

• Design and implement foundational architecture changes that enable future feature roadmaps for feature-focused engineers to build upon

• Produce technical design documentation and implementation plans for infrastructure and systemic initiatives

• Scope and cost work accurately from loosely defined requirements, presenting estimates with clear assumptions and identified risks

• Adapt plans and technical approaches when requirements or platform constraints change

• Review code, technical design documentation, and implementation plans for other team members

• Proactively profile, optimize, and refactor code to meet team performance and stability KPI goals

• Explore, develop, and integrate new technologies and tools that benefit the broader engineering team

• Work closely with other engineers to lead multi-week or month-long infrastructure and tooling efforts

• Give team and divisional tech talks on architectures that you’ve built

• Work to improve and evolve team process and engineering standards

• Help to mentor other engineers

• B.Sc. in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent education / work experience

• 6+ Years game industry / mobile app experience as a software developer

• Shipped titles and/or live games experience, especially mobile (iOS / Android)

• Expert knowledge in C#

• 3+ Years Unity experience, including engine-level and low-level systems work

• A solid understanding of client/server architecture in modern mobile games
• Understanding, interest and knowledge of server-side architecture in mobile games

• Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms and software methodologies

• Demonstrated experience diagnosing and resolving performance issues such as load times, frame rate, and memory usage

• Experience upgrading, integrating, or maintaining third-party libraries, SDKs, or engine versions

• Experience with the AWS ecosystem, Kubernetes, and back end monitoring technologies such as Datadog

• Excellent communication skills and comfort working in a collaborative environment

• Excellent ability to foresee and proactively resolve blockers, technical risk, and points of failure

• Excellent ability to function in an asynchronous distributed work environment while still tuning in to key team meetings

• Experience with git

• Experience with performance profiling and optimization tools

• Experience with Unity engine source modification or custom engine forks

• Experience with build pipeline, CI/CD, or dev tooling for game teams

• Experience playing and working on games that target a casual audience

• Experience using Claude Code or a similar AI coding tool

Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site

The pay range for this position in Toronto at the start of employment is expected to be between $114,300 and $164,300 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $133,900 and $180,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in Illinois at the start of employment is expected to be between $120,600 and $170,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses. The use of Artificial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.